Hatch-cover-supporting means



' May 27, 1930.

w. F.- DIETRICHSQN HATCH COVER SUPPORTING MEANS Original Filed Alig. 20, 1 925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y Wk. 0 .c r rm 7 0 [H i "M? We y 1930- w. F: DIETRICHSON 1,760,688

HATCH COVER SUPPORTING MEANS Original File ad Aug. 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 27, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT o FicE WILLIAM F. DIETRICHSON, F WEBSTER GROVES, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T0 AMERICAN CAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY HATCH-COVER-SUPPORTING MEANS Original application filed August 20, 1925, Serial No. 51,516. Divided and this application filed October 16, 1926. Serial No. 142,136.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings which illustratethe preferred form of the invention; though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shownand described,

as it is obvious that various modifications thereof within the scope of the claims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

Fig.1 is a top plan View of a refrigerator hatch and cover, taken as indicated by the line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of the hatch and cover and the supporting means, showing the parts in the full line posi tions of Fig. 2. I

This invention relates to supporting means for hatch covers of refrigerator carsand the like, adapted for holding such covers in an open or ventilating position. It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, rugged, and convenient device of this character, easily applied even to cars in service.

This application is a division of myapplication Serial No. 51,516, filed August 20, 1925, entitled Hatch cover operating means for refrigerator car, which'has matured into Patent No. 1,631,309, issued June 7, 1927.

In the drawings, the hatch cover 5 with its plug portion 6 is shown hinged or pivotally mounted on the car roof adjacent the frame 7 around the hatch opening. In the particular instance here illustrated, and as shown in my aforementioned prior application, there is a U-shapcd lever 8 whose legs extend through the openings of inverted "Ll-shaped stirrup members 9, 9 and 10, 10 bolted to the cover 5 at 11. The ends of the double lever 8 are pivoted in the slots of double cared hinge brackets 12, 12 (bolted to the car roof at- 13) by means of pins 14, 14, and the legs of this lever 8 are also pivoted to the stirrup members 9, 9 (the stirrup nearest the pivots 14, 14) by means of pins 15, 15. The height of the stirrup members 10, 10 is such as to afford substantial clearance or play between their upper portions and the legs of i breaks open the end or side of the cover 5 next the pivots 14, 14; then, as the legs of the .lever 8 strike the tops of the stirrups 10, 10,

the lever 8 lifts the other end or side of'the cover 5 from the hatch frame 7 and raises the cover bodily from the hatch opening.

With this explanation of the particular cover mounting here illustrated, I Will proceed to describe the meansfor holding the hatch cover 5 (however mounted) in partly open or ventilating position, in accordance with my present invention.

To the hatch cover 5 at thecenter of the cover edge away from the hinge brackets 12, bolts 17 secure a bar 18 which projects beyond the edge of the coverand has its outer end bent downwardly, as at 19, and provided with an opening 21 toreceive a hook 22 secured to the car roof by a chain 23 and which, when engaged in the opening 21 and an opening 24 in an attaching base comprising an angle piece 25 rigidly fastened to the car roof outside thehatch opening and adjacent the hatch cover by the bolts 26, secures the hatch cover 5 in position to close the hatch opening.

Adjacent the cover 5, the bar 18 is bent upward to form an inverted U-shaped portion which projects above thecover 5 and the sides of which are provided with alined openings recei\-'inga'bolt 2'? which pivotally supportsa bar having an elongated opening 31 adjacent its freeend. flfhus thebar 30 is piv otally mounted on the cover 5 beyond its free edge and substantially above its top. When the cover 5 is in closed position, as shown Figs. 2 and 3, the bar 30 extends'un'der one-leg beyond the edge of the cover to engage in the opening 31 and provided with an opening 34 to receive a hook 35 secured to the cover 5 by a chain 36, the hook 35 being engaged in the opening 34 to retain the bar 30 on the bar 32. To hold the cover 8 in the open or ventilating position, the bar 30 is secured to the angle piece 25, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, by the hook 22 which is engaged in the opening 31 in the bar 30 and in the opening 24 in the angle piece 25. It will be noted that bar 30 provides a means for holding the cover 8 in position to ventilate the car; and with its free end secured to the cover edge at 32, it does not interfere with the movement of the cover to its full open position, as for icing, etc.

hat is claimed is:

1. A device for supporting a pivoted closure in elevated .position comprising a bar attached to the closure and projecting downwardly therebeyond in the form of a perforated extension, a fixed perforated keeper, a fastening element for connecting the perforated extension and keeper to normally retain the closure in closed position, and a support pivotally secured at one end to the first mentioned bar and adapted to be swung to a substantially vertical position when the closure is open, the support having an opening at its lower end for registration with the opening in the keeper and adapted for engagement by said fastening element only when the closure is in open position.

2. A pivoted closure support comprising a bar terminating in a U-shaped portion and adapted to be secured to the free end of a closure and project laterally beyond the same, a support pivoted to the U-shaped portion of said bar and having an opening in its free end, a projection for attachment to the closure and extending beyond the free edge of the closure at one side of the U-shaped member and adapted to be received in the opening in the supporting member to retain it in a substantially horizontal position when not in use.

3. In a car having a roof and a hatch cover, overlappingly contacting brackets on the hatch cover and roof for securing the hatch cover in closed position, and means pivotally secured to the hatch cover bracket normally in inactive position and arranged to engage the roof bracket to support the hatch cover in elevated position.

4. In a car havin a roof and a hatch cover.

the hatch cover for securing the bar in inactive position.

5. A hatch cover support comprising a bar secured to the upper surface of a hatch cover, a support pivotally connected at one end to said bar, a stationary base adjacent the hatch cover, said support being so arranged as to be swung by the hatch cover when the latter is elevated to a position such that the free end of the support is adjacent said base, and means for connecting said support to the base when the cover is elevated.

6. A hatch cover support comprising a bar secured to the upper surface of a hatch cover and having an extended end, a stationary base adjacent the cover with which said extended end contacts and to which it may be secured when the cover is in seated position, a support pivotally secured to the bar intermediate the ends of the latter, and means for connecting said support to said base when the cover is in elevated position to retain said cover in said elevated position.

7. A hatch cover support comprising a bar rigidly secured to the hatch cover, a stationary base adjacent the hatch cover contacting with said bar When the cover is in seated position, a supporting element pivotally connected at one end to the bar intermediate the ends of the latter and so arranged as to be swung transversely of the cover by the latter when said cover is elevated to a position adj acent the stationary base, and means for connecting the bar and base or the supporting element and base as desired.

8. In a. car, a roof and a hatch cover, brackets on said roof and cover, a locking means for connecting said brackets to secure the cover in closed position, and means pivotally secured to the hatch cover bracket normally in inactive position and arranged to be releasably connected to the roof bracket to support the hatch cover in elevated position.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

- WILLIAM F. DIETRICHSONL 

